Everlasting Immortal Firmament

Boom!

Kong Xuan stepped forward, shattering the barrier above the Western Sea.

The barrier trapping Lady Houtu proved fragile, cracking open from the outside.

Long Wanqing’s arrival cast a shadow on Fengbo and the others, but they did not lose hope.

Fengbo scanned the surroundings.

A glint in his eyes revealed a sudden realization. “Oh? Gu Hai didn’t come with you?”

“So what if my husband didn’t come? Do you think you can capture Lady Houtu with just yourselves?” Long Wanqing retorted coldly.

“Elder Sister, stop being stubborn!” Houqing cried out.

Lady Houtu glared at Houqing. “Houqing, take care of yourself!”

After speaking, she flew towards Long Wanqing.

“Halt!” Xiong You shouted, glaring as he blocked Lady Houtu.

“Haha! Big bear, care for a practice match?” Kong Xuan glared as he flung out a six-colored divine light that tore through space and appeared in front of Xiong You.

Xiong You’s face darkened, and he countered with a palm strike.

Boom!

Space shattered, and massive waves rocked the Western Sea.

“Houqing, what are you waiting for? Stop Houtu quickly!” Fengbo cried out urgently.

“But…” Houqing appeared anxious.

“Don’t worry. His Holy Eminence will be here soon. In a while, none of them will be able to escape!” Fengbo reassured.

“Good!” Houqing responded, his eyes gleaming as he charged Lady Houtu.

On the other side, Shangguan Hen pounced at Ao Ying.

Boom!

When the two animal spirit primes collided, the black hole expanded further.

Houqing’s intervention left Lady Houtu disappointed.

“Houqing, one day, your stupidity will be the death of you,” Lady Houtu said bitterly.

“Meow!”

Mao Tianyun appeared in front of Fengbo almost instantly.

Not only Mao Tianyun but Long Wanqing and Gu Han also appeared, surrounding Fengbo.

Fengbo’s expression changed. One against three?

Did they plan this?

“Meow! Fengbo, I feel that you’re the worst of them all,” Mao Tianyun said, stalking forward and igniting an inferno all around.

“Imperial Mother, be careful not to get hurt by accident. Leave Fengbo to me and Mao Tianyun,” Gu Han suggested.

Gu Han pressed his palms together, and a giant halo of beneficence appeared behind him. He extended a hand, executing Buddhist Nation in Hand, which gave off Buddhist chanting.

“No, we can’t afford to hold back now. Kill Fengbo as fast as possible. Give it your all and show no mercy!” Long Wanqing said coldly.

Ji Dihong wanted to take Lady Houtu away to reduce the Han Nation’s combat forces. As one of the Han Imperial Dynasty’s empresses, Long Wanqing understood it was better to cut off one finger than to injure ten.

Without any hesitation, Long Wanqing swung eighteen nether rivers at Fengbo.

Whoosh!

Fengbo surrounded himself with a whirlwind, but the combined might of the three consummate Upper Heavenly Palace Realm cultivators was not something he could compete against. There were nether rivers, fire dragons, and the Buddhist Nation in Hand.

All the attacks landed on the whirlwind around Fengbo.

Boom!

Fengbo’s face turned beet red, a clear sign of injury.

The battle between ten consummate Upper Heavenly Palace Realm cultivators caused massive explosions, shattering space countless times.

It startled all the powerful experts across the Divine Continent.

“Why hasn’t His Holy Eminence arrived?” Ao Ying asked anxiously.

Ao Ying could do nothing to Shangguan Hen, and Xiong You could not handle Kong Xuan, who displayed astonishing combat strength. Although Kong Xuan had just reached the consummation of the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm, he had already attacked hundreds of times, even sucking in a black wind to pull on Xiong You.

“Hah!”

Xiong You roared, unleashing a formidable force to block Kong Xuan from consuming him, but a five-colored divine light still gouged a massive amount of flesh from his back.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

On the other side, three consecutive heavy strikes landed on Fengbo.

Blargh!

He spewed a mouthful of blood, evidently no match for the combined attacks.

The fight had lasted only twenty breaths, but that would be long enough for a consummate Upper Heavenly Palace Realm cultivator to cross the entire Divine Continent.

“Run, run quickly!” Fengbo urged, not daring to be reckless.

Despite taking three heavy hits, Fengbo still broke out of the encirclement. However, the price was severe—almost every bone in his body was shattered.

Boom! Boom!

Ao Ying and Xiong You also sustained a heavy strike each as they fled into the distance, following Fengbo.

“Elder Sister, you will regret this!” Houqing shouted in frustration before he fled.

“What I regret most is having a brother like you!” Lady Houtu replied, crestfallen.

“Meow! Where are you running to?” Mao Tianyun wanted to block their escape.

“Don’t chase them. We shouldn’t stay here for long. Let’s go!” Long Wanqing ordered.

“Yes!” the others answered.

Whoosh!

They transformed into beams of light and disappeared into the horizon.

“We almost had him! Meow! If we had taken a risk just now, we could have stopped Fengbo!” Mao Tianyun complained.

“There wasn’t enough time. My husband could only buy us a little time. If Ji Dihong arrives, we’ll be in danger!” Long Wanqing explained.

“That Fengbo is very lucky! Two more combined attacks, and we could have killed him, but…,” Mao Tianyun grumbled.

“Don’t worry. He won’t enjoy his escape. Elder Sister Chen gave me something earlier. When we attacked, I sent it into Fengbo’s body,” Long Wanqing said, smiling.

“Oh?” Everyone felt slightly startled.

------

The assembly hall’s entrance, Xuanyuan City:

Bang!

Xiong You, Ao Ying, Fengbo, and Houqing landed on the square.

“What happened? Didn’t His Holy Eminence say he would meet us? Why didn’t he come?” Ao Ying asked, puzzled.

Blargh!

Fengbo spewed another mouthful of blood.

“Fengbo, how are you?” Xiong You asked, placing his hand on Fengbo’s back and pouring his energy into him.

“This isn’t right. The blood Fengbo vomited is blue. Has he been poisoned?” Ao Ying asked, his face paling.

Blargh!

Suddenly, Xiong You also spewed a mouthful of blood, and his face quickly turned blue.

“I-I’ve been poisoned too! This is a contagious poison!” Xiong You cried out in alarm.

Houqing was taken aback and enraged. “Gu Hai, that sneaky scoundrel! Did he really poison us?”

At this moment, numerous officials hurried over to help Fengbo and Xiong You.

However, Cangjie rushed over and stopped these officials. “Don’t touch them!”

The crowd fell silent.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a yellow figure descended from the sky—it was Ji Dihong returning.

Everyone respectfully greeted him, “Your Holy Eminence!”

“Your Holy Eminence, I failed you!” Fengbo immediately reported bitterly.

Ji Dihong ordered with a grave expression, “Notify the Divine Scorpion Heavenly Demon to come and detoxify them, immediately!”

“Yes!” Emperor Kong set off to convey the message.

Appearing somewhat uneasy, Ao Ying asked, “His Holy Eminence, why didn’t you come earlier?”

At this, Cangjie said with a bitter smile, “It’s my fault!”

“Huh?” Ao Ying frowned in puzzlement as he turned to Cangjie.

“It was because of Gu Hai. Gu Hai played a trick. He went to where Chiyou’s corpse was, so I thought he was planning to steal it while taking advantage of the chaos. I reported it to His Holy Eminence immediately and recommended we kill Gu Hai as our priority. I told His Holy Eminence that since you four were consummate Upper Heavenly Palace Realm experts, you could at least escape even if you couldn’t stop Houtu. No one could have foreseen…,” Cangjie trailed off with a bitter smile.

Ji Dihong shook his head. “Mister Cangjie, you don’t need to blame yourself. It was our decision.”

“Gu Hai? Then did Your Holy Eminence kill Gu Hai?” Ao Ying asked, looking at Ji Dihong.

Ji Dihong shook his head again. “Gu Hai’s departure from Borderless Heavenly Capital was a ruse. By the time we arrived, he had already fled to the nether realm. He should be back in Borderless Heavenly Capital by now.”

Houqing exclaimed angrily, “Gu Hai? What a sly character!”

Ji Dihong glanced at Houqing and shook his head. “It’s not slyness; it’s strategy. It appears Gu Hai has insight into our capabilities. He might even have found out about Mister Cangjie’s abilities.”

While speaking, Ji Dihong scanned his trusted followers, and a faint suspicion arose in his heart.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a beam of light shot over from the distance. It was the Divine Scorpion Heavenly Demon.

As soon as he arrived, two scorpion tails flew out of his sleeves and swiftly jabbed Fengbo and Xiong You.

“This poison is very potent. Had I arrived any later, they would have been in trouble,” the Divine Scorpion Heavenly Demon commented in shock.

Cangjie asked the Divine Scorpion Heavenly Demon with a slight frown, “Did you come from Borderless Heavenly Capital’s vicinity?”

“Yes, I was hiding out near Borderless Heavenly Capital. Why do you ask?” Divine Scorpion Heavenly Demon responded nonchalantly.

“Why didn’t you take action when I sent you the message about Borderless Heavenly Capital being undefended?” Cangjie asked coldly.

“Why should I have?” Divine Scorpion Heavenly Demon retorted dispassionately.

Cangjie fell silent at this.

Meanwhile, Emperor Kong burst out, glaring, “Such a golden opportunity! If you had destroyed Borderless Heavenly Capital, the Han Imperial Dynasty’s blessings would have been scattered!”

“Hah! If you want to kill Gu Hai, do it yourselves. I’m not joining your game. Do you think I’d believe you just like that? Besides, do you really think Borderless Heavenly Capital was defenseless? I saw the earlier battle at the Western Sea, and not all of Gu Hai’s men were there,” the Divine Scorpion Heavenly Demon scoffed.

“You!” Emperor Kong exclaimed in frustration.

However, Ji Dihong did not chastise him. Instead, he gave a slight bow and said, “Divine Scorpion Heavenly Demon, please attend to the poison in Fengbo and Xiong You.”

“Don’t worry. The Heavenly Demon Holy Land and the Huang Heavenly Dynasty are allies. I will do my best to detoxify them. However, this poison is much stronger than last time. I’ll need to take a closer look,” the Divine Scorpion Heavenly Demon responded coolly.

“Much obliged.” Ji Dihong nodded in appreciation.

------

The shore of the Western Sea:

Long Aotian had arrived just in time to witness the great battle.

After Long Shenying’s reprimand in the nether realm, he had been holding a grudge and was again shocked by today’s events.

“Houqing, what a waste! If I had the zombie ancestor seed, I’d be far more powerful,” Long Aotian muttered jealously.

Once everyone left, Long Aotian flew back to Spirit Mountain’s Deity Seizing Hall.

Jiangchen was already there, leisurely reading a book with a cup of wine in hand.

“Veritable Lord!” Long Aotian called out.

“Yes?” Jiangchen turned to look at Long Aotian.

Long Aotian went down on one knee and pleaded earnestly, “I desire Houqing’s zombie ancestor seed. Veritable Lord, please assist me!”

“Houqing’s zombie ancestor seed?” Jiangchen squinted slightly and put down his book.

“Yes!”

He scrutinized Long Aotian, his eyes flickering as if in thought.